Hana's Jump
by EbonyAlchemist
Summary: Hana could do lots of things. There was one thing she COULDN'T do, and that's probably why she's doing it: Handling the process of being attacked by a prehistoric relic, having herself kidnapped, and then plummeting down a crack in the earth. Oh well, her tutor will come to get her. He was a demon, after all, and her captor was a regular human...right? (birthday presented fic)
1. Chapter 1

This is for the birthday girl! Hope you like it Mikome-chan :3

_**The Leap...**_

The weather was cold and desolate outside, the sky graying to a shade of near black and the rain pouring down in freezing sheets of sky water. Through the falling rain's wraithlike mist, a large cobblestone mansion sat in a grassy field beyond the last corner of the last street. A leaf strewn concrete path led to the slippery moss-covered drawbridge that led over the moat filled with dark, murky water. It ran all around the large residence, and then carved a path to the gray lake a football field's length away. The interior of the large domicile was warm, dry, and quiet, an entirely different setting from the outside. A fire crackled peacefully in the grand fireplace.

Hana Sakahada reclined on a two-seat tan leather sofa in the cavernous living room and, with a pair of intense green eyes, stared blankly out the square window while winding silky strands of her long blonde hair around her fingers. She could barely see out though, because it was raining so hard. She could hear the rain pummeling the ground, and see droplets spattering the windows. It would be fun to go out there, no? Her breath clouded the window as she closed her eyes and rested her forehead on the cool glass. 'It would be fun to go outside,' she thought.

I wasn't being serious… Hana was 16 years old, born an orphan child. She was an artist, and knew four languages other than English. They were Japanese, French, Latin and German. You would think such a well learned girl would behave like a decorous and modest lady, but her heart was too wild for the prim and proper life. Her mind often wandered to faraway lands of magic and adventure, which made it hard to pay attention in all of her classes. She barely manages to focus and-

"Hana Sakahada, please pay attention when I'm speaking to you." Oops… She turned to the source of the smooth, composed voice, curling up against the arm of the leather couch and tucking her bare feet under. She was home schooled due to an incident that occurred at school a while back. She was allowed to study with Sebastian in the living room, where no children played, as long as she dre

"I'm listening, Sebastian." The darkly clothed gentleman sat across from her in an old-fashioned chair with a small paperback in his hand. Sebastian gave her a, what am I going to do with you, look and raked his fingers though his hair, making his bangs flop into his intensively scolding eyes. Rain gave him an innocent smile in return. Sebastian was a tall man, with jet black hair, steely red eyes, a firm mouth and rare smile. He was multi-lingual, having been everywhere and seen everything, and always carried a book wherever he went. His entire family is long gone save for his nephew Ciel Phantomhive, and the two visited the orphanage often.

"You were saying, Sebastian?" A snort escaped the gentleman at the statement.

"If you would pay attention when I'm speaking you, you would know. I asked you to give me your grandfather's Latin name and its meaning." Rain rolled her eyes. Her tutor was way too balanced. And frankly, quite boring.

"Fatalis Tyrannus, meaning "Fatal Tyrant". Can we please do something else?" She bit her bottom lip, expecting a stern no. Sebastian shook his head in amusement.

"Lady Orion would be upset, knowing you were daydreaming instead of learning." he murmured. Lady Orion was a beautiful young woman with glossy brownish-red hair that curtained her face and shoulders and a wondrous pair of emerald green eyes that were so deep and rich in color, you would swear you were looking into the eyes of Mother Nature herself. With the posture and physical form of a lady, she was quite a catch and, because of her gentle spirit, treasured by adult and child alike. Hana cast a defiant stare up at her cheeky tutor, her cheeks coloring as if they'd been pinched.

"I have been listening!" Sebastian rolled his shoulders and sighed tiredly. His eyes flickered towards the grandfather clock beside Hana's perch on the couch. It read a quarter after ten.

"Alright, that's enough for tonight's lesson. It's getting late." Hana nodded and yawned sleepily. Her lessons wore her out, even as she daydreamed through them. As she trudged up the flight of stairs, she felt a cold presence nipping the back of her neck. It spread to her head, where it seemed to sting at her brain. She felt numb from the neck down, and then as if she was falling. Wind rushed in her ears, fire burned in her throat but in an instant, it was gone. She'd returned to her normal state of being, where the house was warm, her tutor was downstairs, and the rain was pounding the roof of the orphanage outside. Hana shuddered before hurrying up to her room, throwing herself onto the bed, and burying herself into the thick folds of her covers…

_**Midnight…  
**_

'_Hana__,_' Hana's eyes slowly drifted open as a soft voice pleaded to her. She looked up at the dark ceiling, wondering who was calling her. A loud crash downstairs sent her heart racing. What, or who, was there? _'Run,_' The voice called to her again, this time more urgently. She threw the covers off and slipped out of bed. The floor felt colder than usual under her bare feet. The young girl soon found out why: her entire room, the walls and floors even the door, was coated with ice.

Shocked beyond belief, she stared at the sparkling sheets of silvery frost. It spread like a white, crystal fungus across the ceiling. She suddenly heard slow, thundering footsteps approaching, jolting her out of her daze. From the strength of the vibrations, she could tell it wasn't human. 'Run!' The voice was screaming at her. She went over to the window and peered through the curtains. The only thing she could distinguish from the darkness was the eerie glow of a piercing red eye.

"What in Tartarus is going on?" she whispered. She leaned against the wall for support before stumbling backwards into her dresser. The eye disappeared; then there was a cracking sound, causing the ice to fall in icy shards. Rain grabbed the mirror from her dresser and held it over her head like an umbrella. A violent shaking of the ground sent her to her knees, and she dropped the mirror. Then the ceiling was no longer there. The full moon shone down on Hana's golden hair, highlighting it with silver. Looking at the cracked mirror, she saw a large scaly muzzle.

Slowly raising her head, she looked up at the largest lizard she'd ever seen. And she was pretty sure it wasn't one of those belly crawlers that stuck to the wall. It stood on powerful hind legs, and had a pair of short scrawny arms... This was probably where Hana finally realized what she was looking at. It was a young adult female Carnatourus, with a jaw full of razor sharp teeth and an abrasive temper to boot. A stream of saliva hit the wooden floor, sizzling with the effect of the deadly bacteria it kept in stock. Hana felt for something to throw, missing it from all of the anticipation, finding a flashlight after a few tries. She took careful observations on her position then, with lightning speed, flicked it on. The female shook her head in an irritated manner, then let out an ear-piercing roar as the flying flashlight knocked a tooth out of her mouth. By the time she recovered from the temporary pain and blindness, the little creature had already disappeared…

The light's effect should have lasted longer than that, but it didn't. It gave Hana enough time to hop out the window, however. The ground rushed up towards her, and she flipped upright, landing soundlessly. She darted behind a tree and fell to her knees.

"Get me out of here, somebody take me away from here!" The air around her began to change, going from cold and humid to warm hard rain falling. The scenery was drastically different, for there were fewer trees, and more marshy lands. Before the change of location came completely, she felt a searing pain in the calf of her left leg. She saw the tyrant lizard glaring at her from her window, a missing tooth indicating she'd knocked it out. The poisonous look in the angry female's eye was perfectly visible through the fading scene of her home. Without pausing to look around the cleared field, she took off for a large lake. There was an old fashioned boat house around the side, maybe she could hide there.

The slick grass and thick mud made it hard to run, and she slipped from time to time because of her leg, but she pumped her arms and legs for all she was worth. Once she reached the choppy body of water, she climbed onto the roof of the boat house. She lifted the latch on a trap door and slipped in onto the rafters. Her breathing could be heard, hard and strained. The only other sounds were the rain hammering on the roof and the steady slap of water against the boats around the planked dock. She was about to leap down, but a strong force slammed into her, and she went tumbling to the floor.

The wind was knocked out of her as she rolled over on the wet straw. She gasped for breath as she tried to stand. A shadow fell over her, and then a foot forced her back onto the ground. Rain looked up and her breath caught in her throat. The mysterious stranger pulled back the hood from his cloak and stood over her, crossing his arms. His facial expression wasn't kind, but it relaxed to a sober look as he recognized her as a young titan girl.

She wasn't one he'd ever seen before, but a titan none the less. The hair and eye colors proved the assumption. She was young, probably around his age, with honey blonde hair wildly strewn over her shoulders. The silver streaks in her hair added extra conviction. What was she wearing? None of the women he'd seen around here wore clothes like those... They hid her figure and were brightly colored with pictures of rabbits on them. He sniffed, smelling tainted blood. She was injured. Hana was also scared witless. He wore nothing but black, so he must be a ruffian of some sort. A golden medallion crescent hung on a black chain around his neck, and on his hands were black fingerless gloves.

Up close the stranger looked around 17. His eyes were two warm onyx orbs that flickered whenever they moved. The moon shone softly on him, highlighting his tousled silky jet-black hair that spiked in the back, and giving his skin an unnatural glow. He looked down at her with a challenge in his gaze, and she looked up at him, paralyzed. She opened her mouth to say something, but her jaw snapped shut when he let off a low growl. He crouched over her, looping his long arms under her legs with incredible speed and hoisting her over his shoulder. Hana's jaw went slack. What was he doing?

"H-hey! What are you doing! Put me down." She demanded. He either didn't hear, or he didn't care. Either way, he didn't return her to earth. Hana struggled and kicked to no avail.

"What do you think you're doing?" she hissed angrily. His only reply was a grunt as he took off running. '_Oh well,_' she thought. '_Sebastian will find me anyway. And when he does, this guy's going to have a lot to answer for__._' So she quieted and tried her best to avoid breaking her captor's neck; being jostled around wasn't fun, and she definitely didn't like the feeling. She felt her gut twitch in protest and groaned.

"Could you be a little gentler? I'm about to ruin the back of your shirt with my upbringings." Another grunt. '_Sheesh, speak up much?_' What was with the wolverine display?

"What's your name?" He emitted a sound that crossed between a groan of annoyance and a rumble of amusement.

"Sasuke," Well, it was a start.

"Where are we going?" Sasuke felt her slipping and hoisted her farther.

"I'm taking you to Ardor so that wound of yours won't get any further infected and kill you." Hana looked down at her leg and nearly gagged. Was that really attached to her? A red angry gash ran down her calf, and in the center, something white was showing. Oh, god, was it bone?! No, it was a tooth. The encounter with the Carnatourus came back to her. So that explained it.

Around the edges, the wound was distended and a disgusting purple. It was all she could do not to attempt to amputate it herself. She started to pick at the bone and Sasuke advised against it. Claimed it would kill her before they got wherever they were going.

"And what makes you think this Ardor person can help this?" Sasuke came to an abrupt stop in the mouth of a cavernous crack in the earth and set her down.

"Because," he replied artlessly. She frowned at him.

"That wouldn't answer my question in another _dimension_." He lowered himself into the hole, grunting with the effort.

"Come on," he ground out. "On my back you go." Hana looked down at the dark hole that threatened to swallow her up, nasty leg and all. Maybe she should make a run for it… A familiar shrieking roar headed straight for them made her decision for her. She gulped and unwillingly grabbed his hand, swinging onto his back. She felt Sasuke tense, and instantly gripped his shoulders.

"S-Sasuke, what are you going to do?" she asked, her voice laced with uncertainty. With a devilish grin, he jumped off the ledge. A loud ringing scream exploded from Hana's throat as the darkness rushed up to devour her. She squeezed her eyes shut and clung to Sasuke, screeching as they plummeted into oblivion…

_**Meanwhile**__**…**_

The moon was a bright, outlying circle that beamed down on the forest of Golden Refuge. The sky was a dull black; clouds released great quantities of rain, nurturing the trees that coated the land with healthy green and fueling the roaring river that rushed through the forest like a herd of wild horses, never seeming to stop, yet always in the same place. Deep inside the dark warmth of a leopard's den, a girl lay on her side in a circle of fresh moss with two large cats, one a mother, the other a cub. Her face was strong and noble, along with her eyes which were a bright sparkling blue. Silvery blue bangs fell over her right eye, while the rest was messily scattered on the floor behind her. Her skin was a smooth and tanned. Her name was Alita. The mother leopard smelled of the rainforest, and had a raven black coat that gleamed in the sliver of moonlight slipping through a crack in the ceiling. Her eyes were an intelligent emerald green.

Alita had named her Tartarus. The cub was a male that smelled of lavender and sandalwood, with a golden coat of fur but had no spots. His eyes were fiery amber that matched his sire's. Her name for him was Julius. Julius was lapping at Alita's sleeping face noisily, attempting to wake his sister. He wanted someone to play with. The sound of the falling rain enveloped Tartarus into an atmosphere of calm quiet. A loud chuff from outside the den set the large female on attack mode. With a warning snarl, she leapt to her feet and slunk towards the entrance of the den. At reaching the mouth, she searched for the source of the low keyed call, eyes flickering. The leaves rustled in a tree above her.

"Reveal yourself before I lose my temper, Kakashi." An amused rumble floated down to her from the same tree and a tall, darkly clothed shinobi slipped down the trunk. His hands were clasped behind his back, a sign of good-will.

"You look happy to see me." Tartarus stifled the irritated growl that formed in her chest and sat, the tip of her tail lashing back and forth. Kakashi was quite annoying, despite his old age… or was he annoying because he was a human? All the humans were loud and stupid, Tartarus knew that first hand. His apprentice, Sasuke was running around somewhere, and he was the most unpleasant of all of them. He was rude, sarcastic, and irresponsible.

"Is there something you needed to tell me? I have two babies to look after now."

"You have another? I've got to hand it to Eclipse, he doesn't play games when it comes to his legacy." Tartarus narrowed her eyes at the mention of her mate and huffed.

"I will have you know-"

"I know Blackie, calm yourself."

"I'd appreciate it if you'd stop addressing me as such!" she hissed. The diminutive minded creature didn't seem to hear her. He put on an impertinent face.

"Are you going to show me or not?" Tartarus considered telling him no, but remembered he was an elder. Not many large cats refused their seniors. With a grunt, she spun and stalked inside, her tail twitching out of control.

"Fine, follow me." Her cubs were grappling with each other, Alita trying to pry her finger out of her brother's mouth. She waved at Kakashi and he nodded to her. He'd convinced Tartarus to raise her, since he had no time for child rearing. Tartarus gave Julius a lick and pushed him to the crouching Kakashi.

"This is my son, Julius."

Kakashi studied him, picking him up and turning him over into his other and. Julius, not seeming to like being poked and prodded, mewled in protest and wobbled over to his sister, pushing his black nose under her leg. Kakashi's throat erupted into delighted chuckles at the display.

"I could come to like this one, he knows when to run and hide." The black cat rolled her eyes.

"Is this hit and run theory of yours the reason why you were left to watch the clan when our warriors went to war?"

"Watch it Blackie, I've swatted roaches larger than you. Anger shot up her spine and threatened to erupt into foul words, but she quelled it and tilted her head down.

"My apologies."

"Apology accepted."

Julius crawled over to Kakashi, curiously sniffing him. He smelled like outside and dogwood… Ew. Kakashi repeated the process he went through with before, only it was a little more complicated. Julius would duck his hand whenever he reached for him. When he bent to sniff her, she wound herself around his forepaws. When he cast an annoyed look at his mother, he pounced on his sandal. Alita giggled as her brother took on his first opponent: an old human with the reflexes of a dead cow.

"Now see here!" Kakashi huffed, aggravated to some degree. Julius was kneading his pants. "Your own father doesn't cause this much trouble!" Julius trotted to his mother's side and sat, maintaining the regal posture she displayed. The look of annoyance on Kakashi's face couldn't be missed. An amused Tartarus looked down on her eldest cub.

_**Back to Hana…**_

Hana wasn't sure how long they'd been falling. Her hair was sure to be sticking up when she landed. Sasuke was falling calmly, his hair waving like an anemone above his head. His eyes were closed, and Hana wondered if he was asleep.

"Sasuke?" No answer.

"Sasuke!" Silence. '_Don't tell me,_' she thought incredulously. '_Do not tell me he's actually ASLEEP!_' She attempted to swim through the rushing air over to him.

"Sasuke!" His eyes slowly opened at the girl's annoying screaming then lowered lazily.

"What?" She gave him such a funny look, it almost made him want to smile.

"How can you be asleep when we could be hitting the ground any second?!" Sasuke shrugged.

"Enough with the questions, I've jumped down this thing a million times." Hana growled to herself. Sebastian was going to kill this guy when he caught up. All thoughts of revenge was immediately forgotten as she saw a brown dot down below rushing towards them.

"Sasuke….what's that coming towards us?" The dot grew bigger and bigger by the second. Sasuke forced himself into a sitting position.

"That," he announced. "Would be the ground." Hana didn't bother to scream. She figured if she hit the ground, she wouldn't have to cut off her leg after all.

CLIFFHANGER! I guess I'll have another chapter up, who knows? It's all up to the birthday girl! 3 3


	2. Chapter 2

Lady Orion picked up the skirt of her light green night gown and plopped down beside a sleepy Sebastian in black pajamas, twisting her reddish brown hair upwards into a fanned-out ponytail. Sebastian had closed curfew, and the 46 or so children of the orphanage were in their rooms, supposedly asleep.

"Are the children asleep?"

"Most of them."

"So how did tutoring go?" Sebastian rolled his eyes.

"Oh, that. Hana's doing better than yesterday, that much I'll give her. She's been wandering again." Orion cupped her chin in her palms.

"She'll grow out of it." Sebastian shot her a disbelieving look.

"She's been like this since we came here, and you know it." Orion frowned.

"I know… but-"

"Her power isn't waning any, she can't even go to school without an accident happening, how can she even get a job when she's older with the problem she has?"

"I'll think of something."

"She's not equipped for living here."

"She's doing fine here."

"You have to go back sometime, Orion."

"I'm not ready to go back!" Sebastian was a little taken aback by her sudden outburst. Panic flashed in her eyes, clouding the green in her irises and turning her into someone other than the ebony sprite he knew. "Orion…" She lowered her gaze to her lap.

"I'm sorry… I just… I can't go back. Not after what happened." Sebastian stood.

"You've looked after Hana as well as any mother. But as her mother, you have to decide whether to keep her in the shadows because of your fear, or face your fears and take her home."

"But, she _is_ home! With me," she tried weakly. Sebastian grimaced.

"This is not a home. This is a house full of young ones she doesn't try to connect with because she knows she's too different." Orion fell silent. He was right.

"Will you come with me to talk to her?" At his nod, the two adults padded down the hallway barefoot and stopped at the head of the stairs. Sebastian smirked.

"Bailey, I know you're not in bed!" There was a soft gasp and the pitter patter of rushing feet faded down the hallway. Orion giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. They climbed up into the dark hall, not bothering to use the railing for support. The ceiling was all glass and they could just barely see the rain running on it with the help of a street light's orange glow. Orion felt her way to the switch and flipped it up. The warm light chased the shadows and revealed rows and rows of books. The hall was the large mansion's library, painted with the spines of the famous and not as famous. Thick books were on the left, thin on the right, small up top, big on the bottom. Sebastian took the book he had attempted to read to Hana from his pocket and slid it in its rightful little nook.

Orion ran her finger down a row of little paperback books. A thick green one with silver trim caught her eye. The author's name glistened silver as she came closer to inspect it. "Raining Stars… Hana wrote this?" she pulled it out and cracked it open. The crisp pages fluttered with each turn until she reached the chapter on portals. The picture above the first sentence was a painting of the lake just down the field. The day was warm, and fluffy clouds lazily floated over head. She skimmed the pages, every word elaborating on the imaginative thoughts and wild dreams that Hana experienced from the time she was as small as a ladybug, to the days when she had grown into a beautiful and, almost, responsible lady.

"A journey of dreams," she murmured. Sebastian studied his nails. She was stalling, wasn't she? Orion showed it to him.

"Hey, that looks like the palace… You didn't know about this, did you?" She walked over to where Sebastian was leaning casually against the wall. Sebastian rolled his eyes, clearly uninterested.

"Yes, I knew about it. I helped her write it." He wasn't surprised when Orion proceeded to pout. It was rather impressive, for an adult to be able to pull off such a childish stunt. He stuck his tongue out at her and she huffed, spinning herself around and continuing down the hall.

"And neither one of you told me?" she called back to Sebastian, who followed without a reply. Orion knocked on the door. There was no answer.

"Hana? Are you sleeping?" Orion pushed open the door, and a disaster area unfolded in front of her. Hana's room was in ruins! The walls were wet and dripping from melting ice, shattered glass was all over the floor. Even her part of the roof was missing, and the moon was spraying silver rays everywhere it could.

"No," she whispered. "She can't be…" Sebastian followed, taking in the scene that had taken place. Well, that made things a lot more convenient.

"So, this means you're going back now?" Orion smacked his arm.

"_You're_ coming with me!"

_**Meanwhile…**_

The ground was getting closer and closer. Hana grabbed onto Sasuke and squeezed her eyes shut, hair flying upwards like a torch. _'Please let this be a quick death,_' she prayed. '_Please let this be a quick death!_' Sasuke looped his arms under her legs and landed with a graceful crouch.

"Now that wasn't so bad, was it?" Hana cracked one eye open and found she was no longer falling.

"Am I… dead now?"

"Nope, I think you'll find we're both very much alive." Hana narrowed her eyes.

"I can feel you smirking at me."

"I'm sorry." The amusement in his voice told her he wasn't very sorry. She pushed his chest away and he set her down gently. Her legs quaked underneath her, forcing her to crumple against Sasuke. The young chunin held her by her upper arms, steadying her until she was used to standing. Cruel embarrassment kept her from looking up at him.

"You okay?" he asked. His breath was tickling her ear, he was too close! She shoved him away, sending him exactly one inch away from her.

"D-don't come that close to me while I'm physically unstable!" Sasuke scoffed.

"Well! I beg your pardon, _princess_!" She mimicked him in a really bad impression of the male voice and looked around in the darkness, trying to calm her nerves. Where did he take her anyway? It was warm, she found. Like a sauna. Her eyes slowly adjusted, revealing an underground cavern. More and more of the details became clear, until she could practically say it was like daylight down there.

"Wow… It's… so pretty in here! And there are so many crevices and ledges! We could play hide-and-go seek for _ages_ without this getting old!"

"Not that I would want to," Sasuke muttered. "Hey! Slow down, you could trip over something! You're supposed to be critically injured!" Hana pulled herself up on a little ledge and lay down, sighing in relief. It felt too good to be able to rest.

"Hana! Do you _want_ to get lost! I can't see you!"

"Yeah?" Hana giggled. "You need glasses then!"

"I'm serious!"

"So am I! I mean, I can see _you_." She sat up.

"Come here." Sasuke ordered. Hana rolled her eyes but obeyed. She came up from behind him and poked his spine. He didn't even flinch.

"_Stay_, behind me." He felt around in the dark with his feet until a crest-like ridge along the ground could be felt. Having done that much, he stepped over it and placed his foot flat on a square behind it. It was a perfect square, too perfect to be normal in this environment. Sasuke pressed down, adding pressure to the point where it caved under, and lifted his foot off of it. Hana peered over Sasuke's shoulder as the wall in front of them began to move.

"Sasuke, what did you do!"

"Woman, will you calm down?!" The rutted rock lifted, and real light flooded out from under it, casting the shadows away like a broken spell and making it easier for Sasuke to keep Hana on a leash. Which is exactly what he needed around now, because she was trying to hobble away again. Chasing her down, he tackled her and slung her over his shoulder.

"I'm not going in there!"

"Yes."

"Put me down!"

"No."

"I mean it! I want to walk on my own!"

"Not possible."

"I hate you!"

"Hn." A disturbed rumble interrupted Hana's struggles and Sasuke continued down the cavernous hallway. The walls were lined with torches, making it easy to see. But extremely hard to hide.

"Ardor! It's me, Sasuke. I have a patient for you." The ground trembled, then calmed, then shuddered again.

"Sasuke of Kahona, you know better than to enter a Fayk's dwelling without a warning." The voice was a like a warm breath on the ear after being outside in the snow, and Hana found herself settled by its amorous tone. A smooth, but bulky white rock appeared into view. It blocked the whole entrance, and Hana struggled to see over Sasuke's shoulder.

"Had I been my brother, you'd be a pile of soot in this instant."

"What is that?! It talked!"

"This is Ardor," He set her down and spun her to face it. She looked up at it. She looked at it some more.

"It's a_ rock_." Sasuke rolled his eyes. The "rock" chuckled in delight.

"Your lady friends get more interesting all the time Sasuke, wherever did you manage to find this one?" Sasuke let out a short guffaw.

"She is not my friend. I found her snooping in Kakashi-sensei's boathouse by the lake." Hana stomped her foot indignantly.

"I was _not_ snooping! I was attacked by a giant dinosaur and went in there to hide!"

"A dinosaur?" The center of the rock lifted, and a dark circle engulfed in golden flames appeared. Hana stared at it intently, realizing it was an eye. A rather large one at that. It stared right back at her, the pupil trembling as it observed her.

"What is your name, child?" Hana swallowed.

"H-Hana… And, you must be Ardor?" He moved away from the tunnel entrance and Sasuke started towards it.

"C'mon," he urged, taking her hand and leading her through to a ledge. Looking down, it was a long way off before you could see the floor. What she saw next sent a shock up her spine and she had to fall against Sasuke once more. Towering above her was the largest creature she had ever laid eyes on.

"Oh, my-"

"Hello, dear." Hana fainted.

When she woke up, she found she was lying beside Sasuke. He was on his back, hands folded behind his head, staring at the ceiling. She groaned and turned away from him. The blanked covering her body was warm and she snuggled down in it.

"Feeling better?" She nodded, and murmured something incomprehensible. Her leg was healed, but she had yet to realize it because she wasn't quite awake enough to think properly. Sasuke watched her from the corner of his eye.

"That was pretty weak, blacking out like that." Hana caught that comment, however.

"Leave me alone."

"You're welcome." Hana rolled back over and glared at him.

"Next time, slow your ego long enough so I'd have the _chance_ to say thank you, _after_ I figure out what I'm supposed to be thankful for!" Sasuke sat up.

"You're confusing."

"And YOU are a BRUTE!" She poked his chest, fuming. Sasuke rolled his eyes and settled back into his former position.

"Okay. Argument's over. Now lay back and rest." Hana stayed upright and continued to glare at him. He stuck his tongue out at her, an act that both surprised and amused Hana. She turned her head away to hide her smile.

"You are so childish." Sasuke took her hand and yanked her down beside him.

"We could tick off the problems we have with each other all night, but that's not gonna make a difference." Hana blushed. She was pressed against his arm, and he wasn't making any efforts to scoot over.

"Sasuke?"

"Hn?"

"Why did you save me?" It was silent for a while before Sasuke finally spoke.

"It's because I'm desperately in love with you." Hana lifted her head to stare at him.

"….What did you just say?"

"From the moment I saw you on the floor, looking so helpless, my heart went out to you. And when I lifted you in my arms, I knew I wanted to be with you forever."

"You… Can't be serious…" He felt that way about her? But they'd just MET! He grinned at Hana's red face.

"Relax goldilocks, I was just kidding." Hana gasped.

"You!" She snatched the fur pillow he'd been laying on and smacked him in the face with it. He laughed as she struggled off of the mat they were sleeping on and stomped out of the cavernous room. That JERK!


End file.
